


Spinel's and Anon's video game day

by Chromite



Series: Tales of Spinel and Anon [4]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gaming, House - Freeform, Talking, a peaceful drive, car, city, growing friendship, laughing, tutorial
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-21 09:31:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20691299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chromite/pseuds/Chromite
Summary: Spinel and Anon meet up once more, to talk and to play a game type entirely new to Spinel together.





	Spinel's and Anon's video game day

>As promised, Anon had called Spinel when he got home from work. The two spent a little time talking to each other on the phone, mostly about more books. While they were talking, they both came to realize they both loved adventure stories, Anon liking them for the fantasy behind the characters and animals, while Spinel enjoyed visualizing the environmental scenes in the stories, finding herself absorbed in imagining what it'd be like to step through the worlds described. Eventually the pair wrapped it up and agreed to meet up again in front of the "Now Leaving Beach City" sign.  
>This time, Spinel grinned as she approached the sign, her legs stretched out to let her travel more distance at once, her shoes squeaking loudly with each step. She could already see Anon's green car parked and waiting for her in the distance, and she was sure Anon could see her approaching. They were both ten minutes early.  
>Spinel's legs stretched down as she arrived a short distance away from Anon's car. She spoke out in a playful tone as Anon opened up his car door and stepped out of the vehicle. "Well well well well well, look who's early this time. Couldn't wait to see me again huh?"  
>Anon smiled wide as he started walking towards Spinel as Spinel herself continued to step closer to the vehicle. "You certainly made an impression yesterday, and you got here early yesterday, I knew I needed to be here early today. Hearing the joy in your voice at hearing about a game, and our talk on the phone last night, it's got me excited. You ready to go?"  
>"Sure, you can tell me about this game and then we can play it here!" Spinel bounced excitedly, more squeaks coming out of her shoes as she bounced in glee.  
>"We can't play it here Spinel, it's a video game! I brought it with me, we can go to your place to play it if you've got the system."  
>Spinel looked at Anon in confusion. "What.....what's a video game, and what's a system?"  
>Anon stared at Spinel for a moment in disbelief, before he gathered his composure. "You....you've never heard of video games? Never played one before? Oooooh man, this is going to be great! I guess we're going to my place then. I'll explain them on our way." With that, Anon motioned for Spinel to follow him back to the car.  
>Spinel hesitated for a moment, thoughts running through her mind. "A new type of game? One I don't know about? Oh no, nonono, what if I'm no good at it? What if I mess up? What if Anon gets mad at me for being bad at it?! No, calm down, breathe. You can do this Spinel, just.....just do your best, and have fun. That's what friends are suppose to do."  
>With the intrusive thoughts pushed aside for a moment, Spinel started walking at a fast pace to get to Anon's car, little squeaks echoing with her rapid steps. Soon, she loaded up into Anon's green car and buckled up. With a smile, Anon started the car and the pair were driving down the road.  
>Anon spared her a brief glance not long after they started moving, before he spoke up. "You know, I enjoyed our talk last night, added a few books to my list of things to read because of you."  
>A light blush spread across Spinel's cheeks. "R-really? I, I enjoyed our talk too, some of the books you mentioned sounded interesting to me too! Maybe, maybe we can trade books sometime? That way we d-don't have to buy them unless we like them."  
>Anon hummed to himself for a moment before he responded. "Sounds like a great idea! Do you have a series you wanted to start with? I could lend you the books this time."  
>Spinel thought for a moment before she shook her head. "Nah, I don't know what series I want to start with, and it wouldn't be fair to you if you didn't get books too! We, we can both work on the list of books we wanted to read and text them to each other! That way, we know exactly what to bring with us when we meet up next time!"  
>Anon grinned slyly. "That's a great idea, but next time? You like planning ahead, don'tcha? There's nothing wrong with that though, I like that you're already enjoying our times together. I, I am too."  
>If Spinel had had a heart, it would have skipped a beat at Anon's admission of enjoying her company. "R-really? That, I'm happy to hear that Anon. It means a lot to me, to, to make a new friend."  
>A brief silence came between the pair for a few minutes before Spinel realized something and spoke up. "H-hey Anon? You, you were going to tell me about video games, and consoles. Would, would you please tell me about them?"  
>Anon's heart skipped a beat as his eyes widened. "Oh, right! Shoot, I'm sorry Spinel, I got lost in our talk back there and I forgot. Let's see, how do I explain this?"  
>Anon thought for a moment on the best way to explain video games before an idea came to him. "Okay, you know the movie we saw yesterday, right?"  
>"Sure do, it was amazing! I can't wait until they make another!"  
>"I know right, I can't wait either, if they're going to be that good and that faithful to the books! But, we're getting sidetracked again here. Video games share some traits with movies. They both require something to be displayed on, and a special device to run them. You with me so far?"  
>"Sure sure, the movie was displayed on that large screen, and I know how VCRs and DVDs work."  
>Anon let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, that makes this easier. Basically, a video game can come in two forms. It's either a disk you plug in, or a cartridge. They share similarities in that way to movies."  
>Spinel spoke excitedly. "So we could plug a video game into a VCR or DVD player and play a game?!"  
>"No, nonono. Video games have systems that run the cartridges and disks, their own special players. You insert the game, and then use special devices to control the movements of some of the characters on screen."  
>Spinel's eyes widened in excitement. "Wait, what?! You mean, we can make our own stories, or play a story for ourselves?! Wow, that sounds so cool!"  
>Anon chuckled a little. "They are pretty cool, and very fun! Some of them have fixed stories, but some do let you explore entire worlds on your own. I can already tell you'll love them."  
>Spinel's smile faded a bit as her thoughts from earlier started nagging at her again. "I, you're not gonna be mad if I'm no good, right? I, I haven't ever, I don't know how to play these games."  
>"Why would I be mad at you? It's okay if you aren't good at games at first, as long as you have fun with them. Don't worry, I'll be there to walk you through how to play, I promise."  
>Spinel cracks a smile. "Okay......I, I'll be counting on you to show me how to play." Spinel's mind briefly flashed back to the garden, the last "game" she had played without knowing how it went. "No, stop that! That's silly Spinel, he's not going to ditch you in one spot and leave forever......right? He, he's taking you to his house! C'mon, pull it together, stop being so......irrational."  
>Anon's voice snaps Spinel out of her thinking. "We're almost to my home, we're entering town now. Welcome to Bayberg!" Anon spoke cheerfully as his car passed a large billboard that read "Welcome to Bayberg! Enjoy your stay!"  
>Spinel glances out her window in wonder as she looks around the town of Bayberg. It's a slightly larger city than Beach City is, the buildings are packed tighter together, with stores she's never seen before lining the streets. She can't help but wonder how different the lives of the people here are to the ones that live in Beach City. No gems are in sight, outside of Little Homeworld and Beach City, gem sightings are still rare on Earth. The notion that she might be the only gem in town makes Spinel all the more nervous.  
>It's another five minutes before they arrive at their destination, Anon slowing his car down enough to park in front of his own home. Spinel noticed that Anon's home was much like hers from the outside, a single floor, simplistic in design, gently sloping roof with a chimney on the top, indicating there was a fireplace inside somewhere. The two main differences were Anon's house looked like it had more rooms in it, and instead of the dark pink color she had painted her own home with, Anon's house was a light blue shade.  
>Spinel smirked before she made a remark. "Wowee, this place sure is big! You must have a lot of people living with you!"  
>Anon rubbed the back of his head nervously. "No, just.....just me here. I bought the house pretty cheaply back when......well, it doesn't matter, it's home sweet home and I'm glad it's mine." Anon smiled at Spinel as enthusiasm came back to his voice. "Come on, let's go get to that game! Can't wait to see how much you enjoy it."  
>Spinel briefly wondered what Anon had been thinking of in that moment before she shrugged it off in her mind. "I've got things I haven't told him yet, he's entitled to his own secrets. I know I need to tell him eventually but.....maybe when we're better friends. For today, it's time to discover a new game!"  
>Spinel followed Anon into his home, looking around at the scene around her. She noticed Anon's living area was very organized, but sparse of decorations. The blue walls were mostly empty, only a few images hung upon them, people Spinel didn't recognize in them other than Anon himself. Sitting in the center of the room was a bright yellow couch, facing a large flatscreen TV. Under the TV was an assortment of devices, some Spinel recognized as being a DVD player and a VCR player, others she had never seen before.  
>Spinel saw Anon walk over to the devices under the TV with a smile, while speaking out. "So, this is my living room. Go ahead and have a seat, it won't take me long to get the game set up." Anon proceeded to fiddle with the devices under the TV, digging through a few thin boxes stacked nearby before pulling one out of the stack and opening it up, pulling a disk out and popping it into one of the devices.  
>Spinel saw Anon grab two strange handheld devices with four buttons on one side, a joystick on the other, and two extra buttons at the corners of the strange box-like device. She looked it over curiously as Anon handed one to her before sitting down, the TV flickering to life as the disk in the console started to load.  
>Stars lit up in Spinel's eyes as she heard music start to play from the TV, and saw the images show up on the screen. She recognized the music as being similar to what she had heard in the theater, except more robotic. The image on the screen had a strange texture to it as well, she could tell the characters were suppose to represent the characters from the book and the movie, Scott, his friend Kelly, and the vile Grand Gast Gregar looming over the pair in the background.  
>"Pretty cool, right? And if you like the opening screen, I know you'll enjoy the game. We'll play on two player mode, but first, you should run the tutorial, get used to the game. Ah, a tutorial is like a training level in the game for you to play, by the way. It'll tell you everything you need to know!"  
>Spinel's face fell a bit. She had thought Anon would be showing her how to play personally. "Tutorial? Won't you get bored watching me play without you?"  
>"Of course not, the tutorial isn't that long. I could explain the game to you, but it'll be better for you to feel the controls for yourself while you're getting used to them."  
>An uneasy feeling welled up in Spinel. "If you say so. How do I play this tutorial?"  
>"Ah, just use the joystick to move down to the tutorial option on the menu, then hit the K button."  
>Spinel looked at her controller, noting how the keys were laid out. The buttons were positioned in a diamond shape, E at the bottom point, K at the right, Q at the left, and P at the top. Spinel briefly wondered why the buttons weren't color coded or numbered instead, but she shrugged it off as a human thing before she got to the tutorial option and hit the K button.  
>The screen imaged changed. Spinel found herself in control of Scott, the main character of the series. She smiled as she recognized he was standing in a simple graveyard setting, with strange platforms floating in the air. On the screen was displayed "Press P to jump, use the Joystick to move.". "Simple enough." Spinel thought to herself as she gave the joystick a few light taps and watched the character move around in the 3D environment.  
>Spinel let out a giddy giggle as she hit the P button and watched Scott jump up in the air and land on one of the floating platforms. A new message displayed on the screen. "Press the shoulder buttons to quick dodge. Press E to duck, E and press the joystick down to drop through a platform."  
>Once more, Spinel followed the directions, watching Scott roll left and right when she hit the shoulder buttons, then watched as he ducked and dropped as she hit E and pressed the Joystick down.  
>Spinel proceeded through the tutorial level, learning about the rest of the controls. K was used to throw and fire the current weapon you were armed with, Q was used to set a trap to acquire the abilities of a new ghost. Spinel made a few mistakes playing through the tutorial, missing jumps and getting hit by the enemies a few times, but she managed to beat it after ten minutes of playing.  
>"I, I did it! Anon, did you see?!"  
>Anon looked over at Spinel with a smile. "I sure did. Now, it's time for the real thing. Do you want to play as Scott or as his friend Kelly?"  
>"It's your game, you should pick first! I don't care who I play as, I'm happy just playing a new game with you!"  
>Anon nodded his head. "Alright, you take the second controller then, and I'll take the first one. Let's have ourselves some fun." Anon held out the other controller in his hands, motioning for Spinel to take it. She nodded in understanding as she passed the controller she had been using to him, taking the new one in her hands.  
>The pair proceeded to play the game for a few hours, making their way through the levels slowly. Despite being new to this form of game, Spinel was managing to keep up with Anon, only making a few mistakes during their time playing, and even saving Anon from an enemy ghost once. She was thoroughly involved in playing, laughing in joy and triumph with Anon when they achieved a major level goal.  
>The pair got so lost in the game that when Anon's phone started beeping at him, he jumped up with surprise, placing his controller down after performing a quick save, much to Spinel's surprise and mild annoyance. "Hey Anon, what's going on?! We were just getting to the good part!"  
>"Sorry Spinel, I lost track of time! That beep was my ten minute warning on getting ready to go to work so I arrive on time. I'm so so sorry, I had meant to drive you home! I can't believe how fast time flew by."  
>Spinel's annoyance faded into joy. "Aww, it's okay, work is important. You, you don't have to worry about me, I can get home on my own! Maybe I'll look around town a little bit before I go back. Home is only a quick stretch away!" Spinel stretched out her arm and placed her controller under the TV set for emphasis.  
>Anon chuckled a little before he stood up. "I really am sorry though. I was enjoying the game with you."  
>"I was enjoying it a lot too. Should, should we text again tonight?"  
>"Sure, I'll send you a message when I get back home from work. Tomorrow will be busy for me, but I'm sure we can set up another meeting soon. A day or two would let us compile a list of our books anyways, so we can lend them out to each other easier."  
>Spinel smiled at the prospect of reading new stories. "Alright, sounds like a plan. See you around Anon." Spinel started walking towards the front door of Anon's home as she waved.  
>"See you soon Spinel." Anon waved back at her, watching as she exited his house.  
>Both Anon and Spinel were humming the theme of the game they were playing to themselves as Anon got ready for work and Spinel started to look around Bayberg for a place to perform. She was in the area, she might as well see what smiles she could bring to the people who lived here. Both of them were looking forward to the next time they spoke and got together.


End file.
